Sometimes you wonder whether Lleyton Hewitt manufactures these situations just to buff up his image as the larrikin from Adelaide with an addiction to adversity. For the sixth time in his career, he came back from two sets down to win a match, his 4–6, 2–6, 6–1, 6–2, 6–2 victory over the Czech player Radek Stepanek securing the 2002 champion's first quarter-final berth at Wimbledon for three years.
The drama on this occasion included the full-throated vocal backing of the Fanatics, Australia's travelling equivalent of English cricket's Barmy Army. They turned the new Court Two into a little corner of Oz as they demonstrated the same enthusiasm for a comeback as their hero, urging him on to a quarter-final tomorrow against another former world No1 Andy Roddick. "If you want to see five sets clap your hands," the fans chanted. And once they got their wish they matched Hewitt's repeated cries of "Come on" with their own answering call of "Go Hewie" and "Come on mate". The testosterone flowed in waves that eventually washed away Stepanek's resolve.
"It was like playing in a Davis Cup tie out there. I drew a lot of emotion and energy from those guys – and the rest of the crowd as well who seemed to be going for me," Hewitt said. "Some of them slept out all night [in the queue] and I think they're already starting to camp out again for Wednesday. I owe them a few beers."
It is tempting to diminish what Hewitt achieved by questioning how committed Stepanek remained once the tide of the contest turned. The Czech player is an enigmatic character, not particularly popular with other players on the tour, and with what might be termed a suspect temperament. He certainly faded with what might have been interpreted as a lack of spine in the finishing stretch.
In fairness to him, though, he also has a history of coming back from two-set deficits, something he has done on four occasions, and what really did for him was the sheer irresistible force of Hewitt's will to win.
Stepanek, whose best grand-slam result was reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon three years ago, was always going to be a danger to the Australian. He has the sort of game that is designed to disrupt a counter-puncher such as Hewitt, who likes to feed off his opponent's pace – just as Jimmy Connors once did. Stepanek moves well on grass and is good at varying the weight of his strokes, anathema to Hewitt who prefers the ball coming on to him consistently as most batsmen do.
For the first two sets, it worked perfectly as Stepanek's mixed bag of responses denied Hewitt the hitting rhythm that is so necessary if he is to prosper. He lost these opening sets in a blur of mistimed shots, his pounding ground strokes urgently in need of recalibration.
After the second set he called for medical assistance, raising fears that the hip injury that got so bad last year that he needed surgery – and led to his dropping out of the world's top 100 last February – might have flared up again. Later, though, he played it down.
"It was just a bit of a strain midway through the first set," he said. "I wasn't quite able to move the way that I would have liked. It was frustrating through the second set so I just got some treatment and tried to forget about it."
He banished it from his thoughts completely. He turned the match around by opening the merest crack in Stepanek's confidence before cleaving it apart with a steady tattoo of blows that were finally finding their mark.
"I was able to dictate play a little bit more and put more pressure on his forehand," he said. "My serve definitely picked up, too. Although I had been struggling pushing off on my left leg on the serve it got better as the match went on."
Roddick's progress to the last eight was altogether more serene, the sixth seed's service power seeing off Thomas Berdych 7–6, 6–4, 6–3.
Hewitt has played Roddick 11 times over the past nine years and leads their series 6–5, although he has lost their last four meetings, including the one at Queen's earlier this month, which Roddick won 7–6, 7–6.
Hewitt warned us not to take too much notice of that result. "I felt like I had the better of him in the actual service games and didn't face a break point in the whole match."
No wonder the Fanatics started queueing last night.